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Paying Financial Aid and Refunds

We start to pay or disburse financial aid to your university account ten days prior to the first day of classes of a semester.

We review your:

Enrollment status

Academic progress

Other unsatisfied aid requirements

There are many criteria and requirements that must be satisfied in order for us to pay your financial aid. The college will only pay your aid after you satisfy all of the requirements related to the aid programs in your aid package, and your registered hours matches your financial aid package (full-time, 3/4 time, 1/2 time, or <1/2 time). You will receive an email notification when we pay your federal aid.

Visit MyPlattsburgh to view your account status, review any requirements, and check the status of any refund situation.

Refund Eligibility

A refund situation occurs when payments and credits on your university account exceed tuition and other charges for a semester.

For example, if for the fall semester your tuition and other charges are $5,000 and your financial aid totals $6,000, your account balance is -$1,000 (negative) and you would receive a refund check of $1,000.

Refund checks are intended to help you pay educational expenses such as books, supplies, personal expenses, and room and meals if you live off-campus.

Distribution of Refunds

SUNY Plattsburgh partners with Higher One, a financial services company focused solely on higher education, to deliver refunds to SUNY students. You must be a U. S. citizen with a U. S. address in order to use the Plattsburgh Debit Card. Students have three options to receive a refund:

Easy Refund to the OneAccount using the Plattsburgh Debit Card

ACH transfer to your bank

Paper Check

Choose the option that is best for you. After you register for classes, your new Plattsburgh Debit Card will be mailed to your current address on file with SUNY Plattsburgh. You need this card to choose one of the three refund preferences. Follow the instructions that accompany the card in order to select a refund preference. You can visit www.PlattsburghDebitCard.com to learn more. You should expect to receive your refund during the first week of classes as long as you have already selected a refund preference and you have satisfied all of your disbursement requirements. Paper checks will take at least a week longer. A book advance option is available prior to the start of a semester.

We start to distribute student refunds around the first day of classes. Student refunds are distributed based upon the refund option that was selected at www.PlattsburghDebitCard.com. If you select Easy Refund, your refund should be available within two business days of disbursement. If you are depositing your refund to a bank of your choice, your refund should be available within three business days of disbursement. If you chose to have a paper check mailed to you, your check should be available within 5-7 business days. If you do not select any option, a paper checked will be mailed after a 21 day delay.

A refund check generated from a parent loan is mailed to the permanent home address unless the parent borrower has indicated on the loan application that it should be made payable to the student. In the latter case, it is distributed based upon the refund option selected by the student.